“They [conformists] think society wiser than their soul, and know not that one soul, and their soul, is wiser than the whole world…Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members….Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist…. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The collective is often promulgated as the vanguard of society – the gears that keep society moving forward. Truth be told, nothing could be further from the truth. This is because any collective, or any group, is nothing without the individual – it doesn’t even exist. It can’t even exist.

At society’s core, the individual is the main gear that makes the world go round. Like imagination is the foundation of creativity, the individual is the foundation of society.

It’s crucial to comprehend this concept of Collectivism Vs. Individualism, because it’s not something pondered deeply in society nowadays. Individuals are often given a bad rap, as if wanting to be your own being is a bad thing. The term ‘lone wolf’ is often bandied about in negative light regarding individuals. But individuality is not about living life alone, but about maintaining your identity – your individuality, what makes you distinct from everyone else.

No matter what societal structure, job, or group the individual is in, the individual that maintains their identity will be one step ahead of the curve because they will hold the ability to think like an individual, rather than forgo their mental faculties for the group. This is vital, because many times the mental faculties of individuals wither within groups, which is rather deleterious.

For instance, we all have heard of group brainstorming, the epitome of collectivism. Group brainstorming is one form of collectivist structure that seeks creation ‘by the group’ at the expense of the individual. However, this tool is fraught with issues.

“Psychologists usually offer three explanations for the failure of group brainstorming. The first is social loafing: in a group, some individuals tend to sit back and let others do the work. The second is production blocking: only one person can talk or produce an idea at once, while the other group members are forced to sit passively. And the third is evaluation apprehension, meaning the fear of looking stupid in front of one’s peers.”[1][Bold Emphasis added, Italics Emphasis In Original]

How many individuals suffer from such a system? It’s certainly not optimal, although the illusion of it is always pushed as such. Furthermore, due to all those reasons, the imagination and creativity individuals could employ otherwise remain stagnant, rarely if ever used except in rare circumstances.

Moreover, the larger the group becomes, the less efficient it is. This, of course, makes individuals mere cogs in a machine when they could be harnessing their own endless creative potential.

Regarding large group inefficiency, Cain further notes:

“…some forty years of research has researched the same startling conclusion. Studies have shown that performance gets worse as group size increases: groups of nine generate fewer and poorer ideas compared to groups of six, which do worse than groups of four. The “evidence from science suggests that business must be insane to use brainstorming groups,” writes the organizational psychologist Adrian Furnham. “If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity and efficiency is the highest priority.”[2][Emphasis added]

Furnham’s words boil down this particular issue to the individual. It’s at that level that individuals shine the brightest.

Hearkening back to issues regarding individuals taking part in groups, Malcom Gladwell, author of the book The Tipping Point, states:

“…when people are asked to consider evidence or make decisions in a group, they come to very different conclusions than when they are asked the same questions by themselves. Once we’re part of a group, we’re susceptible to peer pressure and social norms and any other number of other kinds of influence…”[3][Bold Emphasis Added]

As we can gather, the collective is not where an individual’s maximum potential lies.

When the individual becomes part of the collective, creativity suffers, and thus, his imagination.

That is why it’s up to the individual to make sure they retain their identity if they are ever forced to work in a group, such as in school or work.

Ultimately, what choices an individual makes are dictated by what they see available. When the availability of choices is forcefully narrowed down, the path the individual walks on is limited rather than boundless, and the individual’s choices are less than optimal to say the least.

There is a great saying: “Knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge is lack of power.” A corollary to this would be: Individual potential is based on choices; lack of choices create lack of power. The most significant ways an individual will lack power is when they merge with a group, thus limiting their choices, and as the example above details. As we have learned, brainstorming sessions in large groups are not terribly efficient.

Furthermore, as the individual identifies with the group, they tend to merge with the group mind and rarely ever voice their opinion, for various reasons. This is also highly inefficient because the whole point of group work is to cultivate idea and possibilities.

The ironic part is that group brainstorming, on paper, is about imagination, and yet group brainstorming is antithetical to it since it doesn’t maximize on the potential imagination of every individual and only employs a fraction of it. On the opposite side of that spectrum stands the individual and their maximum potential, every single time.

Individuals which use imagination are self-sufficient in many ways. The Individual that uses imagination not only seeks solutions, but creates them. They don’t take anything at face value. They check, recheck – they research. Why? Because individuals realize they control their own path and are responsible for it. They live a better life, a healthier life, because they imagine better possibilities and put them into action.

These individuals don’t allow themselves to be stopped because they’re incapable of being stopped. That’s not within their DNA. It’s not part of their reality structure.

Curiously, the proclivity to create is so ubiquitous in creative individuals that not creating seems rather foreign. They always seek create beyond the lines, outside ‘the box’ – always in action, always creating. This is why ultimately the individual is the foundation of society.

The canvas of endless possibilities is there for everyone. It requires the desire to create to the nth degree coupled with conscious action for the canvas to become something more than a mere possibility.

___________________________________________________________
This article is free and open source. You are encouraged to share this content and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
___________________________________________________________About The Author:

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

Speed – Facing Our Addiction To Fast & Faster And Overcoming Our Fear Of Slowing Down by Dr. Stephanie Brown Ph.D. is a thought-provoking and timely book. The author’s premise is that society is addicted to the fast-paced-no-matter-the-consequences type of lifestyle and this has caused many individuals to become addicted to the high speed of modern times.

This book is split up into two parts. Part one covers much of what addiction entails and how this modern issue has come about. Part two offers a pragmatic approach for individuals to regain control of their life by employing proactive solutions. However, initially, the individual must be willing to change. Without the acceptance of a problem, no solution can ever be had, no matter how perfect that solution may be.

With a sensible and practical approach, Brown not only shows a healthy dose of examples about how addiction to speed plays out in everyday life, but also hones in on many things individuals can do to take back control of their life.

Streamlining her approach using the concept of AA, Brown carries out a veritable top-down, user-friendly [syn.] process in which individuals can be their best helpers, become their best selves. Not only does the author consistently speak about the perils of instant gratification that modern fast-paced life brings about, but she’s also cognizant of the limits that we all have. But mainly, Brown makes it a point to show why the immediate access to information [i.e. phones, cpus, google, etc.] has made many individuals addicts more than they know.

Dr. Brown herself cautions that the addiction to Speed:

“…is outstripping people’s ability to manage, to fulfill all of their responsibilities, and even to cope. The idea that we literally have at our fingertips the tools to do so much more than we actually have the capacity to do well has created an impossible bind that leads to chronic stress and a sense of failure. You do not have the ability to be on 24/7 like a computer, but you believe you should be able to keep going, and that you will be able to do so if you only try harder. And so you push yourself incessantly, creating an addictive spiral.”[1]

Likewise, this kind of addiction has spawned what is called dichotomous thinking, which is best exemplified by:

“The belief that you are either a success or failure, a winner or loser, will drive you to stay in motion. If you are caught in dichotomous thinking, you might think you are being asked to embrace the opposite of frenzied speed with no limits. You’ll tried to do everything before you so you’ll do nothing. This thinking, often believed to be the way smart people operate, is actually false and dangerous when you’re growing up living in a complex world. Very few complicated decisions can be boiled down to yes or not without careful thought to multiple factors involved and the potential costs.”[2]

Such are the perils part of modern fast-paced society is fraught with, and individuals that need help, if they are to regain control of their lives, not only need to pump the breaks, but need to reset – create a whole new approach.

Dr. Brown doesn’t pretend that it’s going to be easy either, as she cautious the reader to be mindful of the fact that relapse does take place. That said, being cognizant of what to expect is one way to be ready for what life throws at you, and those preparations will definitely help bring about change as long as one stays the course.

All in all, although the book can be quite repetitive at times given that it speaks of addiction, it does have ample information from which individuals can gain insights from. In a world where nigh nobody ever stops to take a deep breath, and smelling the roses might make some people give an individual askance glances, we stand much to gain from the knowing of this book.

If part of society doesn’t realize that the go-go-go fast-paced life that never stops for anything has addiction at its core, then it stands to bottom out once it blindly torpedoes into the next obstacle. That’s why it would be prudent to keep in mind the information in this book, because odds are we ALL know at least ONE person, if not many, that would benefit from this information.
___________________________________________________________
Footnotes:

___________________________________________________________
This article is free and open source. You are encouraged and have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and TheBreakaway.wordpress.com.
___________________________________________________________About The Author:

His own personal blog is BreakawayConsciousnessBlog.wordpress.com where his personal work is shared, while TheBreakaway.wordpress.com serves as a media portal which mirrors vital information usually ignored by mainstream press, but still highly crucial to our individual understanding of various facets of the world.

“It’s instructive to read what authors wrote about core values a hundred or two hundred years ago, because then you can appreciate what has happened to the culture of a nation. You can grasp the enormous influence of planned propaganda, which changes minds, builds new consensus, and exiles certain disruptive thinkers to the margins of society. You can see what has been painted over, with great intent, in order to promote tyranny that proclaims a greater good for all.” (The Underground, Jon Rappoport)

Here I present several statements about the individual, written in 19th century America. The authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and James Fenimore Cooper were prominent figures. Emerson, in his time, was the most famous.

“All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity.” James Fenimore Cooper

“The less government we have, the better, — the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of [by] formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The former generations…sacrificed uniformly the citizen to the State. The modern mind believed that the nation existed for the individual, for the guardianship and education of every man. This idea, roughly written in revolutions and national movements, in the mind of the philosopher had far more precision; the individual is the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Henry David Thoreau

“They [conformists] think society wiser than their soul, and know not that one soul, and their soul, is wiser than the whole world…Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members….Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist…. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can you imagine, today, any of these statements gaining traction in the public mind, much less the mainstream media?

Immediately, there would be virulent pushback, on the grounds that unfettered individualism equals brutal greed, equals (hated) capitalism, equals inhumane indifference to the plight of the less fortunate, equals callous disregard for the needs of the group.

The 19th-century men who wrote those assertions would be viewed with hostile suspicion, as potential criminals, as potential “anti-government” outliers who should go on a list. They might have terrorist tendencies.

Contemporary analysis of the individual goes much further than this.

Case in point: Peter Collero, of the department of sociology, Western Oregon University, has written a book titled: The Myth of Individualism: How Social Forces Shape Our Lives:

“Most people today believe that an individual is a person with an independent and distinct identification. This, however, is a myth.”

Callero is claiming there aren’t individuals to begin with. They’re a group.

This downgrading of the individual human spirit is remarkable, but it is not the exception. There are many, many people today who would agree (without comprehending what they are talking about) that the individual does not exist. They would agree because, to take the opposite position would set them on a path toward admitting that each individual has independent power—and thus they would violate a sacred proscription of political correctness.

These are the extreme conformists Emerson was referring to a century and a half ago.

Unable to partake in anything resembling clear thought, such people salute the flag of the Collective, blithely assuming it means “whatever is best for everyone.” Such questions as “who defines ‘best’” and “who engineers this outcome” are beyond their capacity to consider. They rest their proud case in vagueness.

Without realizing it, they are tools of a program. They’re foot soldiers in a ceaseless campaign to promote collectivism (dictatorship from the top) under the guise of equality.

Let me repeat one of Emerson’s statements: “The antidote to this abuse of [by] formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual.” The corollary: If there is no widespread growth of individuals and their independent thoughts, actions, and moral consciousness, if they don’t widen their horizons and spheres of influence, then in the long run what check is there on government?

Demeaning the individual is, in fact, an intentional operation designed to keep government power intact and expand its range.

Consider this question: If all opposition to overbearing, intrusive, and illegitimate government were contained in organized groups, and if there were no independent “Emersonian” individuals, what would be the outcome?

In the long term, those groups would stagnate and fail in their missions. They would be co-opted by government. Eventually, all such groups would be viewed as “special needs” cases, requiring “intervention” to “help them.”

That is a future without promise, without reason, without imagination, without life-force.

That is why the individual remains vital; above, beyond, and through any blizzard of propaganda.

“Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks is to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine.” Oscar Wilde. The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891)

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at NoMoreFakeNews.com or OutsideTheRealityMachine.

Republican Politicians Have Only Their Fears to Blame … In calls this morning, many Rs privately want to defect from Trump. But they say the debate gave them pause since he roused their base. … Remember, there were already an unusual number of high-profile Republicans who had broken with their own nominee, with many saying they would support Hillary Clinton and others just refusing to vote for Trump. Why did it take so long for the rejection to build? -Bloomberg

Bloomberg thinks rejecting Trump is an obvious choice for Republicans but this article doesn’t recognize the larger trend is to reject modern Republicanism itself.

This really started with the GOP’s removal of conservative libertarian candidate Ron Paul from political contention by intimidating his supporters and unilaterally changing and suspending rules. This sort of approach to non GOP-approved candidates has continued with Trump.

Ron Paul, who wanted to educate more than he wanted to win, was nonetheless squashed by a variety of evil and panicked GOP attacks. Donald Trump recast many of Ron Paul’s views but basically moved down Ron Paul’s political track and due to his celebrity and wealth succeeded where Ron Paul had failed.

Ron Paul was anti-tax, anti-central bank and anti-war. So is Trump, though Trump is closer to the elite mainstream than Paul. But the GOP leadership is pro-tax (though it pretends not to be) … also pro-central bank and pro-war.

The GOP leadership and the Democratic leadership are aligned on most points. It’s the details that are different. But the bulk of GOP supporters take GOP rhetoric at face value. They are specifically, legitimately libertarian in many ways.

The difference lies in the support of the military, but even here, GOP support at the base is far more nuanced than GOP leadership. Support for American wars involves perceptions of necessity. In other words, there is not unlimited support.

Both Ron Paul and now Trump hold views that are in many ways closer to the views of the GOP base. This is why Ron Paul was so successful when he ran a second time after people came to understand his views. This is why Trump has been successful.

More:

This is what responsible Republican leaders (or just self-interested ones) needed to do early this year: Get over their exaggerated fear of their voters and get behind a tolerable candidate such as Marco Rubio or John Kasich (or, earlier, Jeb Bush or Scott Walker or even Bobby Jindal or Rick Perry or whomever).

Or they could have bit the bullet in late spring, when they still had the option of Ted Cruz and Kasich. Or they could have denied Trump the nomination, even after the primaries were over. They had enough votes collectively to do that. Trump was far short of the majority he needed without additional support from the Republican National Committee.

This excerpt above represents a complete misunderstanding about what’s going on. Voters have simply decided that mainstream politics is ineffective and destructive.

This is why Bernie Sanders did so well as an “outsider” along with Paul and Trump. It is a trend that’s not going away. It’s getting stronger, if anything.

Now just because we recognize a trend doesn’t mean either party is going to fall in line with popular sentiment. The rhetoric may shift a little but taxes, regulations and government intrusions into daily life will continue and expand. This is in true not just for the US but for the West generally.

But the Internet itself has verbalized what’s actually wrong with leadership positions and this process will continue even if the Internet itself is censored.

As time passes, as your age expressed as a number goes up, it turns out there are more and more excuses you can give yourself for having less energy.

This is rather fascinating, if you step back far enough to think about it.

There is a direct connection between the draining away of energy and the acceptance of excuses.

“Yes, this is a good excuse. And that one over there—that’s sensational. And here’s another one—I never thought of that before. Beautiful.”

Then there is the national and world “situation.” As chaos grows…that’s also an excuse for having less energy.

If you want to define abundance in terms of excuses, people are quite, quite wealthy. Perhaps, some day, the government will pay cash for each and every excuse.

Of course, doing what you really want to do in life causes energy to spring up out of nowhere. Tons of it.

So…it’s handy to have a few prime-cut excuses for not doing what you want to do—if you want less energy.

I’ve never been fond of the typical stories about ET aliens, about who they are and what they want. For example, I’d like to see a race that has marvelous amounts of personal energy. They would look at Earth and dub it the Planet of Excuses.

This race would have a genius inventor who finds a way to capture the energy contained in excuses and run it through electrical grids. Voila, Earth has enough electrical power to send into every city, town, and village from the North to South Pole.

Imagination happens to be the trigger for uncountable Niagaras of energy. At some point early in their lives, every inhabitant of Earth knows that. Knows it as clearly as he/she knows the sun is coming up every day.

But then the amnesia of “maturity” sets in.

In any large society, there comes a tipping point, when enough individuals are experiencing an abundance of self-made excuses and a significant overall lessening of energy…and at that point, a new consensus is reached: the main energies are going to be supplied by machines. People can’t do it. Machines are going to have to take over.

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at NoMoreFakeNews.com or OutsideTheRealityMachine.